San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and his brother Joaquin are big supporters of the Obama economic plan. (CBS News)

Hispanic mayors and Latino groups are embracing President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan as one that may help ease unemployment and economic hardship for the minority community.

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are two of many mayors and governors who applaud the president for outlining a package to “put people to work.”

“It is my hope that Congress will put this job creation initiative on the front burner and make the kind of education, public safety and infrastructure investments that already have been proven to work in cities and suburbs across America,” Castro said.

The jobs bill outlined by the president would create transportation construction jobs in Los Angeles, Villaraigosa said.

In Texas, the job’s bill would create 141,500 jobs and cut payroll taxes for 390,000 companies, according to the White House.

Despite the administration’s claim that the bill would create jobs in heavily Hispanic communities, Latino Republicans voiced their disdain for the package.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that while there were measures in the president’s job package that he liked, it appears the overall plan is just an extension of an earlier $800 stimulus bill that “just won’t work.”

Rep. Francisco Canseco, R-San Antonio, dismissed the president’s plan as an attempt to “spend and borrow our way to economic prosperity.”

But administration officials said the plan would aid those most in need.

Minorities, disabled veterans and youth were taken into consideration when the White House developed the president’s jobs plan, Brian Deese, National Economic Council deputy director, told a roundtable of reporters.

Deese said the plan that includes payroll tax cuts, tax breaks for small businesses, extended unemployment benefits and a call for new construction and transportation spending would help “populations that have the hardest time, and are traditionally the hardest hit during economic downturns.”

Other measures in the plan include a summer jobs program, subsidized employment for low-income workers and mentorship programs to train low-income minority youth job skills in construction and other trades.

The Obama job plan takes a targeted approach to help out low-income, minority, youth and veteran populations, Deese said.

Latino workers account for about 25 percent of the workers in the construction sector of the economy, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Hispanic unemployment in August was 11.3 percent higher than the overall national unemployment rate of 9.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment for African-Americans last month was nearly double the national average at 16.7 percent.

Hispanic youth unemployment is at 19.3 percent.

A measure in the Obama jobs plan, “Pathways Back to Work,” which would offer unemployed Hispanic youth training, has been endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The caucus said 25 million Hispanic families and 250,000 Latino businesses would benefit from the extended payroll and tax cut.

“President Obama understands the crucial role that Hispanics will play in our economic future and his proposal reflects this reality,” said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, chairman of the Hispanic caucus.